Rail joint



C. W. GASKEY.

RAIL JOINT APPLICATION FILED JAN. 9, 1922.

1,425,446&

Patented Aug. 8, 1922.

WITNESSZ ATTORNEY ire er CHAR-LES "W. GASKEY, OF GREENSBURG, EENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1922.

Application filed January 9, 1922. Serial No. 528,023.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Crmnnns W. GAsKEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grecnsburg, in the county of Westmoreland and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rail Joints, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my said invention is the provision of a rail joint characterized by simplicity and strength in construction, by the adaptability to be used in combination with the ordinary fish plates, and by an interlocking arrangement of the contiguous ends of rails whereby upward movement of the end of either rail relatively to the other is precluded as is also movement of one end out of alinement with the other, and yet by moving either rail laterally outof alinement with the other the rails can be disconnected.

To the attainment of the foregoing, the invention consists in the improvement as hereinafter described and definitely claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification 2-- Figure 1 is an elevation showing one side of my rail joint.

Figure 2 is an elevation of the opposite side of the joint.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the joint.

Figure 4 is an inverted plan view of the joint.

Figure 5 is a perspective illustrative of the end of one rail.

Figure 6 is a perspective illustrative of the opposed end of the other rail.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all of the views of the drawings.

The rail bases designated by 1 are provided with square opposed ends 2, and the heads 3 of the rails are provided with mitered opposed ends 4. It will also be noticed that the miters 4 are carried downwardly through the webs 5 of the rails, as designated by 6, and that the miter 6 of one rail is merged into a notch 7 in front of which is a tongue 8 formed by a portion of the web 5 and extending beyond the square end of the base of its respective rail and beveled at its outer side as indicated by 9.

The miter 6 of the other rail ends at the lower side of a tongue 10 on such other rail which tongue 10 is arranged in front of a notch 11 in the web of the said other rail and adapted to receive the before men tioned tongue 8.

In order to assemble the rails constructed n accordance with my invention into a oint, it is simply necessary to move the end portion of one rail laterally inward with respect to the other rail, when as will be readily understood the tongue 8 of one rail will be seated in the notch 11 of the other rail, and the tongue 10 of such other rail will be seated in the notch 7 of the firstnamed rail, the opposed mitered portions of the rails serving to effectively prevent movement of the contiguous ends of the rails beyond a point where the rails are in strict alinement with each other. After the interlocking of the rails, side clamping plates 12 may be positioned and fastened to ties in the ordinary well known manner. With the rails joined as specifically described it will be manifest that upward or downward movement of the end portion of either rail will be precluded, but when the fish plates are disconnected the end portion of either rail may be moved laterally 0r sidewise with respect to the other. It will also be manifest that the rails are strongly interlocked of themselves with the result that a strong and durable and safe joint is provided at small cost. It will further be appreciated that the interlocking of the contiguous ends of the rails has the effect of providing a continuous smooth tread so that there is no bumping incident to the passage of a wheel from one rail to the other.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, 1s:-

In a rail joint, the combination of the contiguous end portions of two rails, both of the said rails having the ends of their bases square and opposed to each other, and both rails having mitered opposed ends on their heads and the upper portions of the webs, and one of the rails having a notch in front of its mitered web portion and a tongue in front of said notch and extending beyond the square end of the base, and the other rail having a tongue on its Web to take into the notch of the first-named rail and also having a notch back of the said tongue to receive the said tongue of the first-named rail, whereby the. rails may be moved laterally into interlocked and alined relation and cannot be disconnected or moved relatively to each other except by a reverse lateral movement.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

CHARLES W. GASKEY. 

